PILATES
Stephanie Yezek Jolivet was first introduced to classical Pilates as a sophomore at Bucknell University under the heading “Dance Fitness”. A fresh face to modern dance and a Division I lacrosse player, Stephanie was not entirely convinced of the merits of the mind/body exercise form, but a seed of interest had been planted. After graduating in 2003, she pursued her study of classical Pilates at Excel Studio in Washington, DC, but discovered its true benefit to her mind and body only after a summer at Avon-by-the-sea, NJ, studying with Carol Myers, who trained at the Pilates Center of Boulder. The following winter 2005, Stephanie returned to Myers’s studio to train with BASI master teacher, Kristy Cooper. After successfully completing her mat certification and sharing the goodness of mat Pilates at home and abroad – she pursued an MA in English Literature and Language at Oxford University from 2005-2006 – she decided to further her Pilates education in 2008 with Fit to the Core, a Physical Mind-based studio in Potomac, MD where she completed 450 hours of comprehensive study, and with BASI master trainer, Karla Adams, where she completed her second 450 hour comprehensive training in Washington, DC. Stephanie’s teaching credits include Elements, Pengu Pilates, National Cathedral School, Trinity University (Washington, DC Metropolitan area), The Healing Path, Aura, Merritt Athletic Club (Baltimore, MD), University Club, Bourton Mills and LA Fitness (Oxford, England), and a week-long workshop in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. Stephanie has developed her own system of Pilates self-practice and her own online Pilates resource to deepen her and her clients’ practice.</span> </p>
DANCE
After graduating from Bucknell University in 2003 with a BA in English and a minor in dance, Stephanie Yezek Jolivet returned to the Washington Metropolitan area and trained and performed with The Playground, Jane Franklin Dance Company, AirDance Bernasconi, Gesel Mason Performance Projects, Deviated Theatre and BosmaDance. She has toured to New York, Canada, India and Bangladesh with Dakshina, a contemporary Indian company and has performed in the works of David Dorfman, Anna Sokolow, Darla Stanley, Florencia Lopez-Boo, Ofra Idel Lipshitz, Meisha Bosma, Gesel Mason, Samantha Speis, Er-Dong Hu, Danna Frangione and Kelly Knox among other local and international dance artists. In 2006, Stephanie helped to co-found Freefall, Oxford University’s contemporary dance ensemble while earning her MA in English Literature and Language. Her choreography has been commissioned and presented by Oxford University, Cambridge University, Bucknell University, Howard Community College, Oxford Playhouse, Dance Place, BosmaDance and Dragonfly Dance Experiment. In 2008, she and Francesca Jandasek established a collaboration, baredances, and their work has been presented by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Baltimore Theater Project, Dance Place, Burton Taylor Studio as part of Oxfringe (Oxford’s fringe festival), and most recently was accepted to the 31st Annual Choreographer’s Showcase at University of Maryland College Park. Stephanie was a finalist in the 2009 Dance/MetroDC awards for “Emerging Choreographer”. She was selected as the sole dancer finalist in the 2010 Howard County Rising Star competition and as one of ten dance artists to the 2010 Dance Omi International Dance Collective. And most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council granted her with a 2013 MSAC award for solo performance. Outside the studio, Stephanie shares the power of Pilates and GYROTONIC® with her clients who continually amaze her. She just accepted a fellowship from University of California at Riverside for an MFA in Experimental Choreography where she is excited to explore further the dichotomous nature of femininity in her choreography. Rock on.
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